US Senator Chuck Schumer, Diana Taylor, former mayor Michael Bloomberg, Sandra Lee and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo watch during Bill de Blasio's public inauguration for the mayor of New York. Photo: Reuters/Carlo Allegri

A top deputy to former Mayor Bloomberg took to the airwaves Thursday to push back against attacks leveled at his former boss during Mayor de Blasio’s inauguration ceremony.

Howard Wolfson said he felt compelled to correct smears and outright falsehoods uttered by speakers, including singer Harry Belafonte and Public Advocate Letitia James.

Wolfon said people have a right to their opinions but they have to be based on a “common set of facts.”

Requesting air time on WNYC radio, Wolfson took issue with Belafonte’s claims that Bloomberg had contributed to the nation’s high-lock up rates of minorities.

In fact, Wolfson said, the incarceration rate plummeted in the city — even as crime was dropping.

“We reduced incarceration by about a third. We did substantially better than the rest of the nation. We didn’t lock more people up. We substantially locked up fewer people,’’ Wolfson pointed out.

In response to barbs from James that Bloomberg ushered in a “gilded age” of inequality, Wolfson said his boss produced or renovated 175,000 units of affordable housing, created more jobs and held the poverty rate steady while it increased in other cities.

“Is there more work to be done? Absolutely. But let’s be clear about what happened,” Wolfson said.

Wolfson also suggested the attacks on his boss were ungracious after Bloomberg pledged to provide his successor “the best transition ever.”

“The transition went off without a hitch,” Wolfson noted.

In his inaugural speech de Blasio didn’t take part in the Bloomberg bashing and praised his predecessor for his public health and environmental achievements.